Not until recently did a political party resort to holding up a federal budget or threaten to not raise the debt ceiling for ideological reasons. The Republican Party is setting a new low with these actions. One may not like the Affordable Health Care Act, but it is law, passed by Congress.

How do you handle hostage takers? You don’t negotiate with them. This only sets the precedent more more hostage-taking. Even Sen. John McCain, a strong conservative but a responsible legislator, deems the House strategy folly.

I call upon my representative, Jeff Denham, to vote for a clean version of the budget, stripped of the condition that Obamacare be delayed, and to raise the debt ceiling. I do not envy him. The Republican Party pressures each of its members to toe the line, and it is not easy to buck Republican leadership. Nevertheless, his party is hurting the country, and it is your responsibility, Mr. Denham, to do the right thing – vote for the Senate version of the budget, and to raise the debt ceiling without strings attached, or suffer the consequences at the polls in November 2014.